Congratulations to Marcy-Holmes resident and Patrick Henry High School senior Lucia Carver, who was recently named a National Merit Scholarship Finalist. To be a finalist, a student must score in the top .5 percent of 1 percent out of nearly 1.3 million high school students who took the PSAT test. Lucia is the daughter of Julie and Kelly Carver.

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Kudos to Cooper resident Elizabeth “Zib” Hinz, who is quoted in a March 12, 2009, Time magazine article titled “Keeping Homeless Kids in School.” Zib is the the Minneapolis School District’s liaison for homeless and highly mobile students. According to her, approximately one in every 15 public school students in the city is homeless (not 10 percent, as cited in the Time article). The article says the work of Zib’s department’s has made the district “a national model for how to identify what it refers to as ‘highly mobile students’ and ensure that their education is not interrupted.”

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Ralph Remembered

Tip your hat
Light a candle
Sing our praises
Here with us
One short year ago
March Madness prevailing
Your team triumphed
Few things made you happier
And then

J-u-s-t l-i-k-e t-h-a-t
You were gone

Miss you?
A Grand Canyon full
When Giants leave
We carry on
But the rhythm
Misses a beat
The song off
A half-note
Colors mute

Leaving such wonder
Creation is better
You having been here
What more could we ask?
What greater your gifts?
Sitting on rainbows
Dancing with winds
Visits touch lightly
Our gratitude overflows

Leslie Myers wrote this poem in remembrance of the late Ralph Rapson, who passed away on March 29, 2008. Myers was Rapson’s companion in his final years.

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Congratulations to two winning teams from South High School. As of this writing, the school chess team is undefeated in league play and is seeded very high in the March 21 playoffs. Team members are Henry Bergmann, Tavis Leighton, Forrest Bryan, Adam Moore and Will Lee, with Jeffrey Tatsuda as the sixth board if anyone gets sick.

And, after coming up short in the title game the two previous years, the South girls’ basketball team finally captured a state championship when it defeated Centennial, 68–61, on March 21 — thanks in no small part to senior Tayler Hill’s 47 points, which tied the state’s single-game tournament scoring record. This season, Hill also become the state’s all-time career scoring leader and was named the Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year for the second time.

The Tigers’ title run was not without some drama, however. Down by 14 points at halftime during their semifinal game against Eastview, South had reason to worry that they might not even reach the championship game. A tongue-lashing from the coach and Hill’s 22 point-second half sparked a remarkable turnaround and drove the Tigers to the title game and, ultimately, the championship. (Read Katie Pelton’s full story about South’s victorious season here.)

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Congratulations to Maren Stone, a third-grader at Marcy Open School, who was selected to be a model at the March 7 American Girl Fashion Show at the Mall of America. Proud parents are Ann Sather and Jeff Stone of Marcy-Holmes.

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A couple of art and literary notes to report: Many in the Southeast community have taken classes and lessons from Marcy Open School art teacher Scott Bean, and through May you can see his own paintings on display at two locations: the Southeast Library in Dinkytown and Corner Coffee in the Warehouse District.

Also, on Tuesday, April 7, at 7 p.m., Prospect Park poet Michael Kincaid will read from his book There Are Gods Here Too: Readings of Heraclitus, at Micawbers bookstore, 2238 Carter Ave. in St. Paul. The book explores the work of the Greek philosopher with new translations of 87 Greek fragments, alongside the Greek originals, with commentary by Kincaid. The book was published at the end of 2008 by Buffalo Commons Press and is available at Micawbers and other local bookstores.

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Some fund-raiser news — past, present and future — to report: You can support kids going to Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., by attending the Seward Astronomical Party on Friday, May 1, 5–8 p.m. at Seward Montessori School, 2309 28th Ave. S. Watch planetarium shows in the Exploradome, play space-themed carnival activities, learn about telescopes and enjoy the pizza, beverages and cookies that will be for sale.

A follow-up now on the “Bands for Band” fund-raiser held on Feb. 21 at the Eagles Club in Seward to support the band programs at Sanford, Seward and Sullivan schools. One of the hardworking parent organizers, Sharon Arvold, reports that the event has raised about $8,750 so far, and donations are still being accepted. Checks can be sent to Anne Sullivan PTA, Bands for Band, 3100 E. 28th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55406. Arvold said, “There were many people at the event that mentioned how music has made such an impact on their lives. They supported this event to make sure these children have the same opportunities.”

Finally, a big thanks to students at Marcy Open School who are giving back to the community. In a fund-raiser called “Pennies for Patients,” 176 Marcy students contributed their pennies to raise $360 for Minnesota Leukemia & Lymphona Society.

Cheers to the Aveda Institute for its April 22 fund-raiser, the Aveda Walk for Water. On that day Aveda salons, stores, corporate offices and institutes around the country will be raising money via pledges to support the Clean Water Fund. Walkers will be going six miles, which is the average distance that women in developing countries must walk each day for clean water. The event will start in Holmes Park at 9 a.m., and the Aveda students participating will have garbage bags and gloves to clean up as they walk.

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Many Bridgeland residents shop at the Lunds stores on Central Avenue and in Highland Park in St. Paul. Both stores now have a “Reuse & Reward” program through which they donate 5 cents to Second Harvest Heartland for each reusable bag that customers use for their groceries. So remember to bring those bags with you when you shop so you can help the environment while bolstering neighborhood food shelves.

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Do you have community news you’d like to share? We’d love to hear about it! Contact Linda Lincoln at
lmlincoln@comcast.net or call
612-379-4301.